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Events Marking Second Anniversary of "Citizens United"

by PRW Staff — January 18, 2012 - 12:55pm
  • Topics: Activism, Election 2012, Corporations, Democracy, Politics, U.S. Government

    • January 20 marks the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C., where a narrow majority of the Court asserted that the Constitution prevents Congress from limiting the amount of money that can be spent influencing our elections. A series of events are planned this week to mobilize opposition to the decision and to generate support for a constitutional amendment to reverse it.

    Bank of America Hopes to Improve its Image

    by Anne Landman — January 16, 2012 - 6:47pm

    With its stock scraping bottom at just over $6.00 a share, its image reeling from a failed attempt to to stick its customers with a $5.00 per month debit card fee, and accusations of thousands of fraudulent foreclosures, Bank of America is undertaking another effort to improve its image. Heading up the makeover attempt is Anne M. Finucane, BofA's Global Strategy and Marketing Officer. Ms. Finucane knows better than most the depths of the trouble BofA is in. The New York Times dubs her the bank's chief "image officer" and says she and the bank stumbled badly with their failed attempt to impose a $5 monthly debit card fee -- a policy that failed after a massive uprising against the fee by BofA's customers. To her credit, Ms. Finucane says that BofA's damaged reputation "cannot be fixed with just a few new slogans. ... In order to repair reputation, you have to repair the issues that underlie" the problems, she says. But how this behemoth bank is going to improve its image when almost every week there is another story of a wrongful or needlessly cruel foreclosure, such as last week's news that a man was losing his home over an $.80 cent error, is anyones guess. BofA spends $1.55 billion/year on marketing in the U.S. alone. Fincucane has reportedly initiated a review of the company's advertising agencies, and selected agencies will be invited to pitch ideas  for new marketing strategies to help improve the company's image.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, January 14, 2012

    Industry Documents Expose Nordic Tobacco Companies' Conspiratorial Behavior

    by Anne Landman — January 15, 2012 - 4:14pm

    In the 1970s, Nordic countries were among the first to adopt policies against tobacco, like bans on cigarette advertising, health warning labels and smoke-free laws, but U.S.-owned tobacco companies, and particularly Philip Morris, makers of Marlboro, became concerned such polices could spread to America and other developed countries where they sold cigarettes. Also, Europe's first product liability case against the tobacco industry occurred in Finland in 1988, when a smoker sued several companies claiming their products caused his illness, causing even more concern for global tobacco companies. To help escape product liability claims, Nordic tobacco companies -- like Amer Tobacco and Rettig, which distributed Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds brands, respectively -- long claimed to be ignorant of, and denied participation in the multinational tobacco companies' global strategies to undermine anti-tobacco policies, but industry documents reveal the truth -- that smaller Nordic tobacco companies did, in fact, participate in the multinational companies’ long-time conspiracy to deny the health dangers of smoking and undermine anti-tobacco policies, helping delay key effective tobacco control measures, and particularly smoke-free laws, for years.

    Main Source: 
    Tobacco Control, January 11, 2012
    News

    Rep. Farley Proposes Some Strong Arizona Sunshine on ALEC "Scholarships"

    by Beau Hodai — January 12, 2012 - 6:52pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Right Wing, Corporations, Democracy, Lobbying

    • This story is part of a collaboration between In These Times and the Center for Media and Democracy, as part of a special series on ALEC's recent conference in Arizona.

    With the 2012 legislative season and another episode of the Great American Campaign Circus dawning over the nation, Arizona may find itself the proving grounds for possible reform in the age of "pay-to-play" politics.

    Op-Ed

    ALEC Politician Claims ALEC Meetings Are "Open to the Public." Really?

    by Lisa Graves — January 12, 2012 - 4:04pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Journalism, Public Diplomacy, Corporations, Democracy, Media, Public Relations

    • Confronted with a report by ProgressVA stating that through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) corporate lobbyists get access to legislators "behind closed doors," ALEC politician Bill Howell dismissed the claim and told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that all ALEC meetings were open to the public.

    Really?

    That would be breaking news to both traditional press and the online media that have been blocked from ALEC meetings and are increasingly being threatened with arrest.

    Op-Ed

    Inside ALEC: Naked Contempt for the Press and Public in Scottsdale

    by Beau Hodai — January 11, 2012 - 8:23am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Ethics, Secrecy

    • "Mr. Hodai had a history at the conference--not a very pleasant history. He was considered to be a persona non grata..."

    -- Westin Kierland General Manager Bruce Lange to Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star.

    Evicting the Press, Part 1: Meet Mr. Black

    Scottsdale, Arizona--A suburb awash in money and golf courses, set against the backdrop of the jagged mountains surrounding Phoenix.

    I was sitting in a sports bar of the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, swapping journalism stories with Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star on one of the bar's overstuffed leather couches. Over the course of an hour, the bar filled with conventioneers from the American Legislative Exchange Council's 2011 States and Nation Policy Summit (SNPS). (A new story on Westin's connections to other ALEC corporations is available here.)

    My assignment was to cover the 2011 SNPS, taking place at the resort from November 29 through December 2. ALEC had refused to grant me media credentials. Nevertheless, I was a paid guest at the resort.

    News

    ALEC and Westin/Starwood: Who is Your Hotel in Bed With While You're in Bed at Your Hotel?

    by Anonymous — January 11, 2012 - 8:21am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Energy, Environment, Lobbying, Public Relations

    • Tucson-based civil rights attorney Stacy Scheff believes that Westin Kierland may have violated federal constitutional law when they threw a journalist (and paid guest) out into the dead of night--due to the simple fact that the journalist evicted had written critically of (and was not liked by) the organization hosting a conference at the hotel. (A new story about these events is available here).

    News

    Bosma and Daniels Push "Right to Work" Amid Controversies over Financial Backers

    by Lisa Graves — January 10, 2012 - 9:44am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Labor

    • Governor Mitch Daniels (R-Indiana) and the state's Speaker of the House, Brian Bosma (R-88), are spearheading an effort to pass the controversial, corporate-backed "Right to Work" (RTW) bill, which has sparked huge protests by Hoosiers. The bill's opponents have called it the "Right to Work (for Peanuts)" bill, the "'Right to be Fired' Without Cause" bill, and other names.

    Lobbying Firm Caught Editing Wikipedia Article on Beer Brand

    by Anne Landman — January 9, 2012 - 8:19pm

    Anheuser-Busch's United Kingdom division, InBev, employed a lobbying firm to edit the Wikipedia entry about its Stella Artois brand of lager to delete a negative reference to the brand. Portland Communications, a lobbying firm run by a former adviser to Tony Blair, deleted the term "wife-beater" from the Wikipedia article about Stella Artois, reportedly to "challenge any connections between the brand and domestic violence." Stella Artois, one of the biggest brands of lager in the UK, in recent years has earned the nickname "wife beater" because of its high alcohol content and apparent popularity among rowdy soccer players. The changes on Wikipedia were made by a user named Portlander10, who had an IP address traceable to Portland Communications. Portland maintains that the changes were made openly and within Wikipedia's rules. In the wake of this revelation, though, a meeting has been scheduled between the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and Wikipedia to give PR professionals guidance for working on Wikipedia, and to develop a code of conduct for PR professionals to help minimize attempts to mask the true identity of PR pros seeking to edit the site.

    Main Source: 
    The UK Daily Mail, January 4, 2011
    Op-Ed

    Supremely Unseemly Conduct by Supreme Court Justices Spurs Call for Mandatory Ethics Rules

    by Lisa Graves — January 9, 2012 - 2:10pm
  • Topics: Right Wing, Corporations, Democracy, Ethics, U.S. Government

    • Madison, WI, January 9, 2012—The Center for Media and Democracy today joined a coalition of public interest organizations in calling for the United States Supreme Court to agree to follow the Code of Conduct for U.S. judges.

    CMD joined the Alliance for Justice, American Association of University Women, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, CREDO Action, Equal Justice Society, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Employment Lawyers Association, People for the American Way Foundation, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group in a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. The letter calls on the Court to "take it upon itself to agree to be bound by the Code," and "do so unequivocally and publicly." (The coalition's letter to Chief Justice Roberts is uploaded down below.)

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